Chidananda Das Gupta () (20 November 1921 – 22 May 2011)—family name sometimes spelled 'Dashgupta' and 'Dasgupta'—was an Indian filmmaker, film critic, a film historian and one of the founders of Calcutta Film Society with Satyajit Ray in 1947. He lived and worked in Calcutta and Santiniketan. Early life Son of Shantilata and Manmathanath Dasgupta, a Brahmo missionary and social worker, he was born at Shillong, India in 1921. In 1944 he married, Supriya Das, a daughter of Brahmananda Dashgupta, brother of poet Jibanananda Das. His daughter Aparna Sen is a well known actress and filmmaker. Actress Konkona Sen Sharma is his granddaughter. Das Gupta first entered politics during the anti-British Quit India movement days of the 1940s, then began teaching at St. Columba's College, Hazaribagh, personal assistant to Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis at the Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta, teaching at City College, Kolkata, journalism, and then a plush job in advertising with Imperial Tobacco. The film society movement In 1947, Das Gupta, along with Satyajit Ray, RP Gupta, Bansi Chandragupta, Harisadhan Dasgupta and others, founded the Calcutta Film Society. In 1959, the Federation of Film Societies of India was set up at the initiative of Das Gupta, Satyajit Ray, Mrs. Vijaya Mulay, Mrs. Ammu Swaminathan, Robert Hawkins, Diptendu Pramanick, Abul Hassan and A. Roychowdhury. The Federation has played a major role in the spread of the film society movement in India. Writing and translations Das Gupta is well known for his essays and translations of Rabindranath Tagore, Manik Bandopadhyay and Jibanananda Das. He had a close association with poet Jibanananda Das during the latter's lifetime which gave him unique insights into the poetry of Jibanananda Das that is often alleged to be obscure and unintelligible. One of the most famous poems of Bengali literature, namely, Banalata Sen by poet Jibanananda Das has been rendered into English by Das Gupta. It reads as follows: Banalata Sen For aeons have I roamed the roads of the earth.From the seas of Ceylon to the straits of MalayaI have journeyed, alone, in the enduring night,And down the dark corridor of time I have walkedThrough mist of Bimbisara, Asoka, darker Vidarbha.Round my weary soul the angry waves still roar;My only peace I knew with Banalata Sen of Natore. Her hair was dark as night in Vidisha;Her face the sculpture of Sravasti.I saw her, as a sailor after the stormRudderless in the sea, spies of a